What The New Escape From New York May Be About

Remakes and reboots come with the territory now in Hollywood, and it seems like no beloved blockbuster is safe from being re-told in some form or fashion. For nearly a decade, Escape from New York has been one of these targets, and it's only been within the last couple years that the project has started to pick up steam. Luther creator Neil Cross is penning the new Escape from New York script, and now details have come out that may give an idea of what to expect from this new version of the tale.

According to The Wrap, there will be a lot of major changes in the Escape from New York remake (or is it reboot?) compared to what its predecessor provided. For one thing, New York won't be a maximum security prison. The city actually looks quite pleasant, with Manhattan having "towering glass structures and a high, undulating glass wall," drones calmly flying through the sky, an A.I. named April controlling everything and a staff of technicians and researchers called "Seers" that monitor everything. However, not everything is peachy in this society, as reportedly one in every 75 humans globally is "now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum."

That predicament is a downer, but it gets worse. A hurricane called Superstorm Ellery is about to hit New York, and because the AI April's security isn't up to snuff, all the citizens will be vulnerable. That brings us to our main protagonist, Snake Plissken, who has 11 hours (rather than 22 like in the original Escape from New York) to finish his mission, which is to bring in the main villain alive. However, in the remake, rather than that honor belonging to the Duke of New York, the evildoer will be a man named Thomas Newton. Newton is a "charismatic" playboy heir to a corporation who donated his fortune five years ago, but he has sinister machinations afoot, including holding onto a big, metal spherical "fail-safe" device called "Fat Boy." It's also worth noting that the Robert Hauk character will now be a woman named Roberta Hauk, who is the CIA Deputy Executive Director. Oh, and evidently the story won't kick off in New York, but in another major city outside the U.S. instead.

Assuming this information is legit, it looks like there are plenty of changes in store for the new Escape from New York movie. The basic framework is still there, like Snake Plissken being sent on a mission, but there will be enough differences to make this re-telling stand apart from the original. For instance, instead of being implanted with micro explosives, it sounds like this hurricane will be Snake's incentive to complete the mission on time, thus providing the 'escape' part. It's hard to imagine this topping the John Carpenter-directed classic (which spawned the less-successful 1996 sequel Escape from L.A.), but at least it sounds like it will be filled with excitement.

We'll keep you apprised of what's happening with the new Escape from New York movie as more news comes in, but let us know what you think of these potential plot details in the comments below.